English – A few weeks ago I went to Timișoara, a little city in Romania. Never heard of it? Neither did I! So I thought it would be a good idea to make a little city guide about it, to give you a little bit of an idea about the city. Everything will be in both English and Dutch! I hope you’ll enjoy it (if so, please let me know! Typing this all out in two different languages is extremely time consuming, so I’m considering switching to less English and more Dutch in the future… not sure yet!)

English – Timișoara is a small, compact but beautiful city. You’ll see most of the city on foot in just a day. Renting a bike is also a great option of course, it’s a great city to bike in! It’s also very lively and filled with students, something I didn’t really expect. I think it will be even better in summer with all the parks and students. It has a very relaxing vibe, the bars, coffee houses and terraces are always filled (or so it seemed). I found (most) of the people friendly and welcoming.

I didn’t expect much of the city and I think that’s best. Not that it’s bad! But there’s just not that much to do. You can walk for hours around the old town and look at the colourful Jugendstil buildings (and take lots of pictures, like I did!), take a walk alongside the Bega river, sit in a coffee house to read or just sit in the park and relax (this must be great in summer!). But it’s no London or anything of course, so no awesome art museums or shops. I didn’t expect any of this so it was all good, I really enjoyed just strolling through the city and taking tons of pictures. I was actually quite surprised by the vibrant and young vibe of the city! I’ve said it before, but I think this city will be so – much – fun in summer.

So my advice? Don’t expect too much, but definitely go and see it. I really enjoyed it! If that isn’t persuasive enough – it’s also ridiculously cheap. Not only the flights but also the accommodation, the drinks, the food, everything.

English – Timișoara is mostly known for its many parcs and beautiful old town. A few well known squares you have to visit are Piata Unirii (as seen in the pictures above),
Piata Libertatii, and Piata Victoriei. On the last square you’ll find the Orthodox Church which in my opinion looks more like a castle from a fairy tale than a church. The city reminded me a lot of Budapest which isn’t so strange when you think of it – it’s very close to Hungary and was also part of Hungary until 1920.

Due to the many parcs and the Secession style houses Timișoara is also called ‘Little Vienna’. I can’t really say it felt like that to me but it’s probably more noticable in summer when all the parcs are in full bloom. My advice? Just wander around, the city is very compact and you’ll see everything on foot in a day.

English – What I really like about Eastern European countries is that there always seems to be a lot of street art. Timișoara is no exception! There’s street art around every corner or so, they even hold an International Street Art Festival every year. Sounds like lots of fun if you ask me. I really love street art!

Located on the ground floor is the Aethernative Café, mostly known for its very good specialty coffee and great amount of craft beers. They are also open in the day, so definitely don’t hesitate to visit any of these places. The cafe itself is quite small, but there’s also a nice courtyard with some graffiti and racing bikes. Oh so hipster (which I love, not gonna lie)! Watch out though, this place is easily missed. You have to enter through a big red door and a hall full with graffiti. There are no signs so keep your eyes open.

Mokum CaféAugustin Pacha colț cu Eugeniu de Savoya
“The days of dark roasts and tripple soy lattes are coming to an end.
Welcome to the brave new world of coffee.”

English – Tucano Coffee is the Romanian answer to Starbucks, which might not sound that exciting but I found it a lot more cosy than your usual Starbucks. It’s a place where you can sit comfortably for hours to just read and relax. Apparently they also have hemp coffee but I’ve heard it’s disgusting, so be warned ;)

English – La Pisici is a tiny cat cafe located nearby the student campus. It’s not as fancy as some cat cafes, it’s more like a cosy student cafe where some cats hang around. Still, I love cats so I thought this was worth mentioning. They also have lots of Yogi tea and board games and things like that.
Also make sure to wander around the student campus for a bit – if only for the pastel buildings and the nice vibe!

Een paar opties: met de trein naar het stadje Arad, ongeveer een uurtje treinen. Je kunt ook met een taxi naar Belgrado, wat op zo’n 2,5 uur rijden ligt van Timișoara. Houd je van natuur en heb je een auto tot je beschikking? Ga dan zeker naar de Bigar watervallen! Als je van romantische kastelen houdt moet je ook naar het beroemde kasteel van Hunedoara (Corvin Castle).English – After seeing most of the city in a day or two you’ll probably have some time left to do some more sightseeing! There are several day trips you can do from Timișoara, most of them are hard to reach by public transport so keep in mind you’ll have to either do a tour or rent a car. Some hostels like Freeborn Hostel organize day trips, however only in summer.

With that in mind, a few day trips from Timișoara – take a train to the city Arad, go to Belgrade by taxi, if you really are into nature go to the Bigar waterfalls and if you’re more of a romantic type go to Corvin Castle.

I swear Timisoara/Romania were not in my Top 10 places to visit but now I really want to go! I haven’t been to enough places in Eastern Europe (only to Prague and Eastern Slovakia) but I can totally understand your fascination with Eastern European countries… the buildings and old neighbourhood look so pretty, the cafes so cosy and the street art is amazing! (and you mention cheap food, which is always good news when one travels on a budget!)

I love how you mention not one but two coffee places that specifically *aren’t* like Starbucks, haha. I’m not a big coffee drinker but there’s nothing I hate more than seeing Starbucks coffees around every single town, especially in places like Barcelona where you can get much better, cheaper coffee in any dingy old cafe. I hate impersonal places, so the hot spot you recommend sound perfect!

Love how you included a little challenge in the end, too! I really enjoy reading these, and while I know it takes time to write anything in two languages (it usually takes me 5-10 minutes to write a single comment, haha) I’ll miss your posts if you decide to write only in Dutch! (of course, there’s always Google translate) ;)

I haven’t been in lots of Eastern European countries either, but one of my travel wishes was to explore a bit more of that area. I’m so glad I did and definitely want to explore more now! Exactly for the reasons you just mentioned, plus the landscape is just so gorgeous (compared to the Netherlands at least haha, mountains omg!)

Haha to be fair one of them was like a Romanian version of Starbucks, but just a lot more cosy :P I’m definitely not a big fan of Starbucks either and as a barista myself I think it’s definitely overhyped (and overpriced!). I have to admit I do go there sometimes because I drink soy milk and they don’t have that in a lot of cafes abroad.

Haha glad you liked the challenge! I love reading your comments and according to statistics there are still quite a lot people reading my blog from abroad but… I just don’t seem to hear from them. I will continue to write everything in both languages (just not as comprehensive in English) for now though. Such a lot of work though haha.

Hey ! I’m one of the abroad reader who enjoys your post in English :) I read every post, but I’m a silent reader and I don’t comment every time.
This city looks perfect for a week-end trip. Maybe when I will be more in “city mood”. For now I am so tired of the grey winter, and even if it’s start to be spring and sunny, I just want nature, beach, mountains, … But the pretty buildings with those colors caught my eye !

Hello!
So glad you have visited Timisoara and liked it!
I’m Romanian and I’m always so happy to see that tourist chose our country for their travel trips. As you said, we still have work to do to make our country more tourist friendly (mainly due to poor infrastructure and quite bad tourist indications) but we will slowly get there.
I haven’t been to Timisoara myself for over 10 years, but I remember that I liked it very much. As you said, it’s full of students, it’s green and very welcoming.

I have also started my little travel journal recently, still new to blogging, but I’d love if you would stop by and maybe get some useful tips.
The address is:https://egodiary.com/